Tag Archives: Maple Leaf Gardens revitalization project

April 14 2011: A worker walks on the roof of Maple Leaf Gardens below a row of platforms that descend the building’s big white dome

Top to bottom, inside and out: Construction crews were tackling the giant Maple Leaf Gardens revitalization project on three fronts today: on the roof, outside walls, and in the cavernous interior. But they still have a very long way to go before the inside begins to even remotely resemble the Loblaw grocery store and Ryerson University Sports and Recreation Centre that will occupy the historic building. My last glance inside the Gardens was late last month, when an open construction entrance gave me the chance to take a few photos which I published in a March 29 2011 post. When I passed the Gardens again today and got another peek inside two different construction entrances, I could see machines pumping concrete into forms for upper-level floors and walls, while crews removed segments of a disassembled construction crane from the building. But from those vantage points, it was difficult to tell if much progress has been made in the past three weeks; the interior didn’t look substantially different than last time. Progress has been more visible outside, where work is underway on the roof and on the Gardens’ facades along Church and Carlton Street, where holes are being knocked in the walls, presumably to create windows for the Loblaws store. Below are several pics of today’s revitalization activity.

Maple Leaf Gardens exterior wall work at the corner of Church & Carlton

Workers watch as a machine tears a hole in the Gardens’ SE corner

The wall was exposed last week; today it was being taken apart

The view inside the construction entrance at the Gardens’ northeast corner. Concrete is being pumped for the floor of the third level above street grade.

Construction equipment inside the north end of Maple Leaf Gardens today included an excavator (foreground), concrete pumper (center) and crane (right)

Under the big top: The enormous cavern under the big white domed roof of Maple Leaf Gardens keeps buzzing with construction activity. But there’s an awful lot of work remaining to be done before the interior of the historic hockey shrine starts looking like a grocery store and a university athletic facility. Latest word is that the Maple Leaf Gardens revitalization is scheduled for completion in December but — as is always the case with any construction project — that deadline isn’t cast in concrete and is always subject to change. In my February 2 post about the project, I mentioned what little construction progress I had been able to see when passing the Gardens while one of the construction entrance doors was open. I’ve since had a few more quick glimpses inside and today was lucky to have my camera with me when doors were opened to allow construction vehicles in and out of the building. I managed to snap a few photos which appear below, along with some other recent pics of Maple Leaf Gardens.

The interior arch on the west side of the hockey arena’s famous domed roof is visible above the spotlights. The new Ryerson University sports and recreation centre will occupy two floors under the dome. It will have an NHL-sized ice rink as well as a running track, basketball and volleyball courts, a fitness centre, gym and academic space. The university facility alone is costing more than $60 million.

Maple Leaf Gardens interior viewed from the northeast corner of the building

The revitalized Maple Leaf Gardens will become home to a 70,000 square foot Loblaw grocery store at street level, with one floor of underground parking below it (partly visible at the bottom of the photo).

This is a typical street view of the cavernous interior of Maple Leaf Gardens — a dark, dusty space buzzing with activity as the Loblaw corporation and Ryerson University transform the Gardens into a unique multi-purpose facility.

A concrete pumping truck slowly backs into the Maple Leaf Gardens construction entrance on Wood Street. Earlier this winter, a hole was knocked into the wall to create an extra entrance at this location.

It’s a tight squeeze, but the truck manages to ease inside in less than a minute

February 20 2011: Windows will eventually be installed for the grocery store

Wide windows along the Church and Carlton Street walls of Maple Leaf Gardens will create a more pedestrian-friendly streetscape

February 20 2011: The southeast corner of Maple Leaf Gardens on Carlton Street